The World Meeting was placed in Birmingham, UK this time, much to the happiness of Arthur, since this means he won't have to travel very far. He won't have to worry about getting there late, like he usually does, since most World Meetings take place in faraway places.
When he got there, he noticed that, surprisingly, Alfred was there, along with several other nations. Although, there were still many that weren't there yet.
"Hey, Iggy!" Alfred calls out to him when he notices Arthur.
Arthur shoots a glare his way. "I told you not to call me that, you git." He sits down in his spot, setting some papers down in front of him. He was thinking about bringing his tea with him today, but he decided to just have it at home before coming over here.
Instead, he was reading a new book for magic that he had bought a couple days ago. He didn't have the time to read it before, since he had been so busy, but now he finally can. Unfortunately, Alfred was being very loud while talking to Matthew, so it was very hard for Arthur to concentrate on reading. He was about to yell at Alfred to shut up when something was suddenly launched at his face, causing him to drop his book onto the table.
"Sorry, Iggy. Do you think you could return that?"
Arthur picks up what had hit him and sees that it was some kind of sports ball. A football. In a fit of a rage, he throws the football in the opposite direction into the trash can.
"Hey, that was not cool, dude!" Alfred complains.
"Maybe you shouldn't be throwing things at people, you bloody git," Arthur replies angrily.
Alfred shrugs. "I said I was sorry. You don't have to overreact."
Arthur slams his hands on the table and quickly stands up. "Overreact? I wasn't overreacting! I got hit in the face with your stupid football!"
Alfred holds his hands out in front of him in defensive way. "Yes. And I said I was sorry."
Arthur rolls his eyes. This was definitely not making his morning good for him. He didn't want to get into an argument this early in the morning, but this bloody American was truly leaving him no choice. Alfred was such an idiot sometimes, always acting on a whim and not paying attention to other people's feelings, especially not Arthur's.
"I doubt you really even meant it," Arthur says.
"I did mean it! What makes you think I didn't?" Alfred yells.
Arthur sighs. This guy... He doesn't understand anything sometimes. Always too wrapped up in his own thoughts. Does he not realize there are other nations in here? He needs to stop being so loud, or else they'll attract unneeded attention. This is between the two of them. They don't need anyone else hearing their argument and trying to get involved.
"Stop yelling, will you, you bloody git? It's still early in the morning."
"You started it!" Alfred exclaims.
Arthur lets out a frustrated sigh before fiercely glaring at Alfred. Screw being quiet.
"You are so annoying! Can you not be so obnoxious all the time?! You never pay attention to anyone else but yourself! When will you grow up?!"
Alfred clenches his fists at his side.
"Fine! I admit I can be annoying sometimes! But you know what, that's obviously your fault!"
Arthur gapes at him in shock, not believing what he was hearing. Alfred was blaming him for his own selfishness?
"My fault?! How is it my fault?!" Arthur asks, his anger rising. He was getting really pissed off now. He hated how Alfred acted like he could do anything he wanted, when he actually can't. It annoyed the hell out of him all the time. The way Alfred was always referring to himself as some kind of 'hero', when he was actually far from one.
Alfred points an accusing finger at Arthur.
"You're the one who raised me! You must not have been a good guardian or something!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he instantly regretted it. He had been too caught up in his anger that he forgot how certain topics can hurt Arthur real badly.
He doesn't notice things sometimes, being too occupied thinking about other stuff that's on his mind. But he did notice the way Arthur's stern look wavered a little, being replaced with hurt, before returning to a glare.
"Arthur, I'm—"
Alfred was about to apologize when suddenly he felt a large force hit him in the side of the face. The whole room went still and silent. Everyone else in the room could do nothing but stare at the scene and watch everything unfold itself. They were too shocked themselves to do anything. Alfred stares at Arthur in disbelief. Never once had Arthur hit him in the past, no matter how many times he had angered him. Alfred, for once, was speechless.
"You git..." Alfred hears Arthur say quietly.
All of a sudden, the doors to the meeting room open with a slam. The nations that weren't in the room before now enter.
"Everyone, please take your seats, the meeting will now begin," Ludwig says as he goes over to the podium.
Arthur goes over to his seat without another word towards Alfred, not in the mood for arguing anymore. He didn't notice the way Alfred watched him leave with regret in his eyes. He sat down quietly, organizing the papers in front of him.
Alfred sat back down. Everyone that had witnessed their conversation was still a little uneasy and wasn't saying anything. The others were making small talk with each other until Ludwig told everyone to be silent.
During the entire meeting, Alfred couldn't help but steal several glances at Arthur. He notices how Arthur isn't really paying attention to what Ludwig is saying. He's mostly just looking at his hands, his papers, or the surface of the table.
Alfred sighs. He feels really bad about saying that to Arthur. It's not like he meant to, though. It just kind of slipped out. He was getting tired of how Arthur was calling him names and accusing him of stuff. He was just trying to get him to be quiet.
The things he said to Alfred had actually really hurt him. Calling him annoying and obnoxious. Arthur's comment about how he doesn't care about anyone but himself hurt him the most, because it's not true. He's the hero, after all. He cares about others a lot, especially Arthur. He may not show it sometimes, since they're almost always arguing, but deep down inside, he really loves Arthur. More than he should, actually. Yet, even so... he hurt Arthur in one of the worst ways possible without even meaning to.
Alfred decided that he's going to try to apologize to Arthur once the meeting's over. Although, when it did end, Arthur immediately bolted for the door and left the room before Alfred could even get out of his own seat. Only the people that were in the room during their argument knew why Arthur left so quickly. The others paid no mind to it.
Alfred gets up out of his seat and heads toward the door. He ignores everyone else's chatter as he leaves the room, only focused on finding Arthur as soon as possible. He races down the hallways, looking for any sign of Arthur, but doesn't find any. He thinks that Arthur had probably gone home already. He remembers how Arthur actually lives pretty close to here.
Maybe I could go to his house...
Alfred hasn't been to Arthur's house in a long time. Not since before the Revolutionary War.
All of a sudden, a gloomy feeling takes over Alfred's mind at the thought of the Revolutionary War. He hated what he had done to Arthur, despite knowing that it had to have been done. He still regrets to this day making Arthur cry. But he had to become independent. He had to make Arthur see him as an equal. Not just his little brother. Alfred didn't want to be his little brother anymore. He wanted to be more, but he knew that would never happen as long as he stayed under Arthur's wing. That's why...
"Alfred!"
Alfred turns to the source of the voice. It was Matthew.
At first, I thought it was...
"Good luck," he says quietly.
He obviously knows what Alfred's planning to do. No surprise, though.
Alfred mutters a quiet 'thank you' before running off in the direction of Arthur's house. Even after so many years, he remembers where Arthur's house is. He runs the most of the way there, not caring when his legs start to hurt from being overused for so long. He takes a deep intake of breath when he finally arrives at the house.
I hope he's here...
He walks up to the front door, past all of the rose gardens. He hesitantly knocks on the door.
He waits a little bit. But when no one answers, he decides to leave. Just as he was about to turn around, the door swings open.
Arthur looks at him in utter shock.
"Alfred? What are you do—?"
Alfred suddenly hugs him tightly, not letting him finish his question.
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I didn't mean it, I promise. So please, please forgive me..." he whispers, still hugging Arthur.
"You came all the way here... to tell me that...?" Arthur asks, still a little shocked that Alfred was here. He honestly wasn't expecting Alfred to come to his house to apologize.
"Yes! I'm really, really sorry I said that to you..." Alfred lets go of Arthur, but keeps a firm grip on his shoulders. "I really care about you, Arthur, and... I don't want you to hate me for something I said. I... I love you, so..." He blushed as soon as he realized what he had said.
"You... love me?" Arthur asks.
Alfred looks away. He didn't exactly mean for that to come out. Seems like he can't keep his mouth shut today for some reason. Well, there's no turning back now. He might as well go ahead and confess everything.
"Yeah... I've loved you for so long..."
He always wanted his feelings to be kept a secret. There were so many outcomes to him confessing, and most of the things he had thought of in the past were bad. A lot of them ended with Arthur hating him, or not returning his feelings, or ending up being with someone else, along with many other endings. That's why he was very surprised when he heard "Me too..." coming from Arthur.
Did I hear that correctly or did I just imagine it?
"What...?" He stares at Arthur with wide eyes.
Now it was Arthur's turn to blush. Arthur sighs and looks down at the ground.
"I... I love you, too..." His face becomes even redder.
Alfred was definitely not expecting this. Then again, he wasn't planning on confessing his own feelings, either. But to hear that Arthur didn't hate him, and instead loved him, made him feel very happy. He had always been worried that Arthur held some kind of grudge against him, since they fight a lot. He didn't like fighting with him. He was tired of it. Maybe... maybe now it will change.
A/N: Crappy ending is crappy. Oh well. I'm just happy I finally finished this story. I'm a big fan of UsUk, so I'm glad that I finally found some kind of inspiration to make a story for the pairing. Anyway, to anyone who may or may not read this, I hope you enjoyed this story.